merchandize of them And when in this work it shall be told you that it belongs not to you to meddle with Religion your power is only in things Civil being a Civil Magistrate Do you consider the foundation of honesty is laid in Godliness and all the duties of the second are grounded in the obedience of the first Table That men are to obey you for conscience sake and conscience respects God only and if you set their consciences at liberty in the things of God sinfully you may expect that God shall let their consciences loose from obedience unto you judicially for furely they that are to obey you only out of conscience to God if they make no conscience of obedience to him it cannot be rationally expected that they should be conscientious in obedience towards you The Magistrate is to rule with God and his great care is to be that nothing provoke God to depart from his Government for what ever men imagine it is the Lord that builds the house that keeps the City Ezech. 10.2 and fire taken off the Altar burns more fiercely when scattered over the City then common fire Let therefore the great things of Christ and of his Gospel be your care and be you very vigilant against all the wiles of Antichrist for he is a Beast issuing out of the Earth Rev. 13.11 of a base original and yet growing up insensibly Stirpium more Mede and his horns are like a Lamb when he speaks like a Dragon The more subtilty there is in this Adversary the greater circumspection is required in you So shall you be chosen Instruments in the Lords hand to keep this people from returning to Babylon so shall you eminently serve your Generation lay down your sword in peace and the ruine intended endeavored upon this City shall not be in your hands which is the humble and hearty prayers of him who is Yours to serve you in the Gospel VV. S. A Voice from Heaven Calling the People of God to a perfect separation from mystical BABYLON REV. 18.4 And I heard another voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my People that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues THis Book sets forth the state of the Church and of the Empire under the two last heads of the fourth Beast and it contains in it in reference to the Empire three great Prophesies First of the Seals which I conceive refer unto Rome Pagan Secondly Of the Trumpets which refer unto Rome Christian after the time of Constantine the Emperour Thirdly Of the Vials which refer unto Rome Antichristian after the Apostasie spoken of 2 Thes 2.3 There must come a falling away first that the man of sin may be revealed the son of perdition the rise of Antichrist is set down in this Book Ch. 13. under the representation of two Beasts noting his double power one temporal so he is a Beast arising out of the Sea with seven heads and ten horns The other Ecclesiastical so he is a Beast arising out of the Earth having two horns like a Lamb c. and his ruin is described Chap. 16. where are set down the several steps and degrees thereof These words of the Text refer unto the time of the fifth Vial which is to be poured out upon the Throne of the Beast Chap. 16.10 which in this Chapter is more fully set forth with the manner and the several circumstances thereof when a mighty Angel shall cry with a strong voice saying Babylon the great is fallen is fallen and is become the habitation of Devils and the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird These words now read unto you Quamobrem aliquot Electi delitescunt adbuc in eluvione Romanae impietatis quorum Deus meminit in communi perditione improborum Bright are taken out of Jer. 51.45 My people go ye out of the midst of her and deliver ye every man his own soul from the fierce anger of the Lord and they contain in them two things first An exhortation unto the people of God who are yet supposed to be mixt amongst the Romish Idolaters yea even then when Rome comes to receive its last plagues in these words come out of her my people Secondly The reason given thereof taken from a double evil First of sin that ye be not partakers of her sins Secondly of suffering that ye receive not of her plagues Two things are to be spoken of by way of explication before I can propose the Doctrine which I intend and they are these First What is meant here by Babylon Secondly What is the destruction which is here threatned unto Babylon First what is meant by Babylon for the understanding thereof we read Chap. 17. ver 3 4 5. Of a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured Beast full of names of Blasphemy c. and her name was written in her forehead Babylon the great the Mother of Harlots Babylon therefore here spoken of is described to be a Woman and vers 18. the Woman is interpreted to be that great City which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth so that Babylon in the sense of the holy Ghost is a great City and that antient Babylon cannot be here meant is plain partly because the ruin thereof was prophesied Isa 21.9 Jer. 51.64 Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not arise from the evil that I will bring upon her Which threatnings were inflicted long before Saint Johns time but the City here spoken of did then raign over the Kings of the Earth and John in this book doth speak of nothing but the things that were and that should come to pass hereafter as appears Chap. 1.19 Write the things which thou hast seen the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter It appears also because the Spirit of God hath given us two words of purpose to keep us off from a literal sense one Chap. 11.8 which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritually called Sodom and Egypt it is a City therefore that is here spoken of that hath the name of Sodom and Egypt yet not to be literally but spiritually understood and the other is Chap. 17.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mysterie Babylon the Great it is not therefore to be literally but mystically interpreted and what City in S. Johns time did rule over the Kings of the Earth but Rome called every where in this Book the great City and by Historians Orbis totius compendium orbis terrarum lux regina c. Cum caput illud Oâ—bis â—ccidet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esse caeperit quis dubitet venisse jam finem rebuâ— humanis orbique terrarum Illa est enim civitas quae adhuc sustentat omnia c. Ne Tyrannus lumen illud effodiat cujus interitu mundus ipse lapsurus est Lactan. de divin praem lib. 7. cap. 25. Yea and A Lapide himself though a Jesuit doth
Viner Major Tuesday the eighth day of Nov. 1653. ORdered that Mr. Strong be desired from this Court to Print his Sermon Preached at Pauls on the fifth of this instant November Sadler A Voice from Heaven CALLING The PEOPLE of GOD to a Perfect SEPARATION FROM Mystical Babylon AS it was delivered in a Sermon at Pauls before the Right Honorable the Lord Major and Aldermen of the City of London on Novem. 5. 1653. By William Strong PREACHER of the GOSPEL at the ABBY WESTMINSTER LONDON Printed by Robert White for Francis Tyton and are to sold at the Sign of the three Daggers in Fleetstreet near the Inner Temple Gate 1654. To the Right Honorable THOMAS VINER Lord Maior of London and the Right Worshipful the Court of Aldermen of the City of London Right Honorable THough there be many reasons which might perswade met silence especially at such a time in which some men are made Transgressors for a word nay every word makes them Transgressors and benè latere wisely to conceal a mans self specially in matters of Religion is one great part of the wisdom of this Age Yet by your Command and in obedience to your Order I have adventured this Sermon into publike view which I confess I was the more easily induced to because it tends to keep up the memorial of that antient mercy which I conceive God would not have forgotten by us as also because unto my grief I hear that its commonly whispered by many that it was only plotted by King James like to that of Gowries Conspiracy for some Politick end But who ever shall look into the story as related by Thuanus surely no enemy to the Papists shall see reason enough to conclude the story most true and the design on their part real De libertate conscientiarum desperata c. The occasion he tells us was a deep discontent for not attaining a toleration of their Religion Sic a Theologis suis disserebatur Regem deponere regna concedere penes supremum Ecclesiae judicium esse c. that the Popish Divines had several Debates about it to set the Consciences of the Conspirators free from their obedience and Allegiance great Consultations were held with forrein Princes great assistances promised persons brought from several parts many of them related to the Iesuites and of that faction to act in this design E sodalitio Jesuitico machinatio sanguinolenta si fuisset per acta ipse ex animo intimis sensibus detestaturus erat Et tam atrox immano faciâ—…s Catholicos suscepisse plus morte sibi dolere as appears in the confession of Garnet who did acknowledge when he came to die that the thing was so horrid that it grieved him more then death it self that the Catholicks should have a hand therein And yet will men who cry out against Antichrist plead so much for him as to make this a feigned story and by this means make all our former praises to be mockings of God and taking his name in vain and bring the guilt of the blood of all the Conspirators upon this Nation But whither will ignorance and interest carry men even to despise the mercies of God Condemn the practises of the Godly justify the wicked and for some petty end take part with their greatest enemies In this Sermon warning is given unto the people of God against Poperie which may seem to some men altogether needless a melancholy conceit and nothing else especially in such a time as this when we seem to be so zealous in departing from Antichrist that we are ready to go too far the contrary way and to forsake the things of Christ under the name of Antichristian But I have read of a Woolf in Sheeps clothing and do never look upon Satan as a roaring Lyon more then when transformed into an Angel and do never fear Antichrist more then when he professes to fight under Christs banner But in the Scripture we have variety of Notes by which Antichrist is described and by these we shall best judge who are Antichristian in their Spirits Principles and Practices First Antichrist came in with an Apostacy when men fell away from God the way of truth and Holyness which before they professed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Thes 2.3 2. He brought in a Lye in Doctrine and worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Thes 2.11 and that even in fundamentals Antichrist denying the Father and the Son 1 John 2.22 3. Antichrist did impose upon all men under the danger of persecution Papalem excommunicationem notari Mede he did make all small and great rich and poor bond and free to receive his mark and no man might buy and sell trade with him in things spiritual that received it not Revel 13.16,17 4. He speaks Blasphemie against the Saints of God and their worship he blasphemes the Tabernacle of God and them that dwell in Heaven Rev. 13.6 And there hath not been an age since the mysterie of iniquitie began to work wherein more of these notes were to be found then in that wherein we live if therefore the Spirit of Antichrist in these great things prevail so much among us and yet we cry out even against the things of Christ as Antichristian it may justly make men fear that this is the decoy the great deceit being to bring in Antichrist under the colour of opposing him and being zealous against him And though we have cause to fear the effectual working of this deceit in all parts of this Nation yet who sees not that the great plot is upon this City by reason of its confluence from and its influence upon all parts of the Nation here they shall be favoured followed of what opinion so ever they be it s your duty therefore Right Honourable to look upon it with the more watchful eye take care of these wanderers wandering Stars the Scripture calls them that have no fixed places that have various motions now they are here but if you look for them aanon they are to be found in some other part of the Heavens these are the men that raise Stirs cause Tumults make Factions to that end that they may swim in such troubled waters and seem somebody in a Partie who if they stood single would be wholly inconsiderable These prove slanderers also and whom they can not dare not oppose they dare asperse Jer. 20.10 Report say they we will report it this is but the beginning of evil Such are to be noted by you discountenanced warned and so much the rather because all the disturbances that are among us are because the people as Clouds are carryed about with such winds if we could allay the winds the Heavens would be clear We speak much of settlement the best way to settle men is to remove those that unsettle them and to establish them is to discountenance those whose business is to beguile unstable Souls that they may make
his aim in all that he did Brevi efficiam ut anathema sit esse Papistam And we have the more need to be stirred up hereunto because since this Nation departed from Rome there were never greater attempts nor higher hopes to bring us back unto this spiritual Egypt then there are at this day To make this manifest I shall propose to you some of my observations upon the present times which seem to argue a tendency and inclination this way First A Universal unsetling of all things in Religion all the Principles and the Doctrines of Godliness are either denied or disputed though it be true Spiritus Sanctus Scepticus non est Luther which is to me a ground of fear that there is an intent to bring in another Gospel Antichrists Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that lye I dare not say I dare not think that this is the intendment of all those that go this way but surely it is finis operis though not operantis Yet I am not without fear that many do it designedly and speak lyes in hypocrisie to that very end when we look upon the rise of Antichrist we shall find that Satan before hand cast out of his mouth a flood after the woman which is interpreted to be the Arian heresie and abundance of corrupt Doctrines accompanying it which though they pass too and fro for some years yet all setled and were gathered into the Sea of Rome at last and it is to be feared Satan hath the same aim at this day though Magistrates and men in Authority may profess never so much against it Imperatores facti sunt Christiani sed diabolus nondum factus est Christianus August Secondly Consider the instruments that are abroad in the World we read of frogs sent out of the mouth of the Beast Rev. 16.13 that is by his especial command and commission and these go forth unto the Kings of the Earth in all shapes and we have cause to fear nay apparent ground to believe that besides the men of corrupt minds risen up among our selves there are many of those sent in among us it were well if we could look upon our Cities Army Navy yea Councels to be free and so much the rather it is to be feared because we see all antient Heresies revived Arians Macedonians Montanists Patripassians yea that conceit of Joachim Abbas Joachim Abbas docebat triplicem doctrinam à tribus personis dimanare doctrinam sc Legis à Patre doctrinam Evangelii quod consignatum habemus à Filio tertiam doctrinam à Spiriu sancto expectandam quam appellat Evangelium aeternum Daven in Colos Cap. 2. v. 2. that there is a Gospel of the Spirit another Gospel then that preached by Christ and to observe by what mean persons these doctrines are vented and yet all the antient Arguments used to maintain them A considering man observing this can hardly imagine but that there be some that do secretly and with the best advantage instil such things into them and that in an unobserved way for they are said to be spirits that is though they act very powerfuly yet invisibly their motions ways and practices are not known Thirdly Consider that constant pressing of liberty of Conscience which if granted must be universal for who hath power to lay a restraint upon one mans conscience more then another and therefore the Patrons of this opinion do plead for a toleration for Popery upon a Religious account and that it is no more to be imposed upon then any other perswasion as also that doctrine of Mariana the Jesuite Marian. c. 10. Cont. Volit l 2. Cap. 16. now so generally insisted upon and pleaded for Princeps nil stauat de Religione The Magistrate is not to meddle with matters of Religion there were two Doctrines antiently which of necessity brought in Popery though a man knew-nothing else of that Religion sc That the true Church cannot err and that the Church of Rome is that true Church Now there are two other principles sprung up in the world First that the word in the heart and the Spirit working there is not to be tryed and examined by the word in the Book that being but a dead letter and for the Spirit to be examined by the word is a minoration thereunto Secondly as the word must not try the spirits of men so Magistrates have nothing to do with their Religion These two principles received lay all open to Popery or Atheism And if Popery as a Religion receive but a Toleration and the same Countenance that others do it being a Religion most agreeable to Nature as corrupt and so exactly fitted to it it will soon have the most followers for when Popery first appeared in the world the whole world wondred after it as it had done after Arianism a little before Fourthly Look to the Apostacy of the present age men falling from all things in Religion and with an impudent face denying deriding all the Scriptures the Trinity the Godhead of Christ his sufferings and satisfaction Justification by imputed Righteousness the Law of God as the Rule of Obedience and whatsoever Doctrines Christian Religion is built upon now we know that a great Apostacy did make way for Popery 2 Thes 2.3 God giving them up to believe a lye and by this means the man of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lawless one was revealed and there is great cause to fear that the present Apostacy amongst us may have such a tendency for we see men fall from one thing to another untill they hold to nothing in matters of Religion such an Apostacy as I think I may without breach of Charity say that hath not been the like in any Christian Church since that great Apostacy before named and being thus become as it were an outward Court may we not fear that God should give us over to be trodden down of the Antichristian Gentiles again and not receiving truth in the love of it he should give us up to believe that lye Fifthly If we consider farther that Antichrist shall have yet a day for it the time of the killing of the witnesses being yet to come For they must Prophesie in sackcloth and ashes a thousand two hundred and sixty daies which is Contemporary with the whole reign of Antichrist which is two and forty months and if we take the beginning from the division of the Empire into ten Kingdoms The ten Kings receiving Power the same hour with the Beast I cannot find upon any account the time of their Prophesie in Sackcloth and Ashes to be fulfilled and if so their killing time and the insulting of the Antichristian party over their dead bodies because they were dead that tormented those that dwell on the Earth must be yet to come and that neer unto the time of Antichrists ruine and who knows yea hath not every one reason to fear that the present Apostacy and defection may lay the ground of and prepare